Nonslip surfaces for paving blocks



March 16, 1937. F, MAL 2,073,814

NONSLIP SURFACES FOR PAVING BLOCKS Filed Dec. '7, 1932 ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 16, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application December 7, 1932, Serial No. 646,201 In Great Britain December 10, 1931 3 Claims.

This invention relates to paving blocks and the like that are provided with projections to prevent slipping and has for its object improvements by means of which badly shod horses are afforded 5 a better grip than has heretofore been provided.

According to the present invention paving blocks, man-hole covers and the like are provided with integral projections of two different heights. These projections may be of any desired form and be arranged symmetrically or otherwise on the road element to which they are applied and the higher projections, which may be arranged in groups, are adapted to engage the inner edge of a horse shoe so that horses are enabled to get a positive foot hold on the road when they slip.

Where the road elements are cast or moulded the projections of different heights may be formed at the same time and in other cases the projections may be applied afterwards as for instance by partly embedding parts of suitable shape and length in a concrete or asphalt road.

The provision of projections according to the present invention does not adversely affect vehicular trafiic and in some cases, for instance where the tread of a pneumatic tire has worn smooth, the projections are of great assistance as they promote a better frictional contact between the tire and the road.

The invention will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawing in which- Fig. l is a plan view of a triangular metallic road paving block having a non-slip surface according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a rectangular paving block and Fig. 4 is a similar view of a man-hole cover showing different modes ofcarrying out the present invention.

According to the construction illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, the paving block has downwardly-sloping sides a, a supporting foot 11 in each corner and two sets of projections c d the latter of which are the higher and are arranged in the groups shown, in such manner that when an assembly of said blocks is laid on a road foundation, the groups of projections 03 are uniformly distributed over the road surface, preferably in staggered relationship. The projections d as shown, are arranged in three groups comprising three projections each, two of which groups are disposed adjacent the base angles of the block and the third at about the centre of said block.

When applied to a road foundation, a course of the triangular blocks is laid with their bases in a line transverse to the direction of the road and the triangular spaces between each block are filled by the next course which is inverted, and the third course is laid base to base with the second. In this way the triangular groups of projections d on the blocks in the second and third courses have their bases presented towards each other and their apices outwardly so that a horse proceeding along the road in either direction is provided with a positive foot-hold if it should slip, either by the engagement of one of the projections d at the apex of a group with the inner edge of its shoe or by the outer edge of its shoe coming into contact with the outer sides of the projections of one or more of the groups.

A modified arrangement of projections d is shown in Fig. 3 applied to a rectangular road block and in this case the single projections 01 which. are staggered relatively to each other, serve the same purpose as the groups of projections d illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 4 shows another arrangement of the projections d applied to a man-hole cover.

It will be understood that the projections d may beof any suitable form and that they may be arranged in any suitable manner on any paving surface and that such projections may be applied to paving blocks of any shape.

I claim:-

1. A paving block having a plurality of integral load-carrying projections of uniform height and a plurality of integral uniformly-higher loadcarrying projections to constitute abutments to objects sliding on the lower projections, said higher projections being so grouped together that a surface covered by an assembly of said blocks is provided with uniformly distributed groups of said higher projections in staggered relationship substantially as set forth.

2. A triangular paving block having a support ing foot in each corner and two sets of integral load-carrying projections on its upper surface, the projections in one set being of uniform height and the projections in the other set being of a uniform greater height so as to constitute abutments to objects sliding on the lower projections substantially as set forth.

3. A paving block having a plurality of integral load-carrying projections on its surface in combination with groups of integral projections of greater height than said load-carrying projections and constituting abutments, said higher projections having load-carrying surfaces, and said groups of higher projections being located at intervals with the load-carrying projections of lesser height between such groups substantially as set forth.

FRANCIS GORDON SMALL. 

